St. Paul daily globe., 1887-10-31
The Form er'S Stand In Favor
Of Corporations Severely
Commented Upon.
Peculiar Influences That Are
Said to Be Doing Insid-
iouS Work.
The Northern Pacific Will EX-
pend $45, ZOO, 900 to Get
$1OO,oOO,O0O.
Special to the Globe.


evidences of suppressed antipathy and
actual warfare. Mr.. Sparks will not
speak for publication, nor permit any OF
his SubOrdinates TO express any opln-
ions, just at present. Nevertheless, al
though there seems to be a disposition
to profit by the old saw, waiting time
is not lost time" the commissioner of
the general land office is only seeming
to wait for the retirement of Lamar
from the interior department. 1t is fair
to state, and is susceptible of proof,
that the views of Sparks have been Wig
orously laid before the president by
powerful friend. The commissioner
says nothing. 1t has been represented
to the president that the recent decision
of Secretary Lamar in the case of Me
Rae and Book versus the Northern Pa
citic company gives to that corporation
no less than 100000 acres of land, or
S45,0OO,OOO, to which they are not en-
titled, between Portland, Or, and Ia
coma, w. T. This, the commissioner
holds, is giving to the road corruption
fund of S45,000,000 with which to carry
their point in the case of 20,000.000 of
claimed indemnity for the extra ten mile
limit claimed, which was recently
argued here by Counsel Mcknight.
Under a construction of law which diff
fered from the decision of Sparks
merely in the construction of the law,
Mr.. Lamar gave 100000 acres OF public
domain to the corporation. Now they
are claiming 10000, 900 more. or 0,000,
600. They will use the S45,000,000
AS A CORRUPTION FUND
.wherewith to catch the other grab of
10000, 600 acres, which are worth at the
very least 800, 100000.
In the McRae case Mr.. Lamar con-
Strued the law against the people. against
the government, and in favor of the
grantee. Mr. Sparks holds that there
was absolutely no excuse for that con-
struction. He holds that the decision
of the secretary enables the corporation
to employ strong men, reputable men,
seemingly influential men, to ''eXplain"
matters to secretary, and, II necessary,
to an attorney general. 1t is the be-
lief of the general land office that unless
this decision shall be revoked, and the
corruption fund thus taken from the cor
poration, it will be impossible to hold to
the decision which recently took the
10000, 600 acres from the Northern Pa
citic and threw them open to settlement.
1t is feared that such pressure will now
be brought to bear upon Mr.. Lamar that
he will decline to bear the burden and
will shift the responsibility from his
own shoulders by referring the matter
to the attorney general for an opinion"
Hitherto secretaries have done that.
''And invariably" says responsible
employe who knows much of these mat
tiers, invariably the attorney general
decides in favor of the corporation.
Therefore all that Mcknight, Menden-
hall and Gray are arguing for is to in
duce Lamar to refer the matter to the
attorney general,
THEN THEIR CASE IS WON;
especially when they have already re-
ceived as gratuity corruption fund
of S45, ,000, 600 with which to work their
nefarious schemes"
that this comparatively small grab of
the Northern Pacific-thiS 100000
acres, worth s45.00U, ,000-is made upon
construction of the joint resolution of
congress upon which the company
bases its present claim to that other and
greater grab, the ten-mile additional in
demnity, embracing 20,000,000, worth
cool S100,000,000. In April, 1869, con-
gress expressly refused to make a grant
from Portland to Tacoma, and, if the in
tentiOn has been to make such a grant
by the joint resolution on May, 1870,
congress would most likely have pro-
Yided for such grant in plain and un-
eQuiYOcal language. 1t did not do so,
and, in consideration of all other legiS-
lation upon the subject, in the light of
the decisions and precedents, Mr..
Sparks believes that the grant of the
100000 is a willful grant of a corrup-
ton fund to an unScrupulOuS corpora
tion.
h1 4N 4ha fofn hot
GERS can be corrupted, the officials of
the land office point to the fact that Sen
ator Cameron is interested in large land
steals in Arizona. A special agent re-
ports that no less than a dozen other
United States senators are similarly in
terested. A wealthy Philadelphian is
interested in Northern Pacific stock,
and
HOLDS RANDALL IN THE HOLLOW OF
HIS HAND.
"And how" queries the land office,
show can we investigate and punish
frauds without appropriations, and how
can we get appropriations while the
house and senate are thus influenced?
Our appropriations are cut down lower
and lower every year. Our efforts are
derided, and our labOrs browbeaten by a
subsidized press. The howl against
Sparks is bought and paid for, in dollars
and cents, in order to discount his work.
Special Agent Strong was recently dis
missed from the service because he was
not accomplishing anything. He now
comes out and charges that the officials
of the department of justice were SO
''infuenced" that they would not
act upon the cases reported by
him. and charging, also, that there
is an official right in the general
land office, right under Sparks nose,
who has been suppressing his reports
and asking Sparks to dismiss him
(StrOngffor rimcOmpetency. 'sThus, ,''says
secret friend inside the department.,
''thus are we honeycombed with cor
ruption right to our teeth. One of our
best and most energetic agents was dis
missed because we were deceived by one
of our most trusted men-deceived into
believing that a good agent was useless
when the fact was he was too active fol
the comfort of the land thieves in his
district. 1t is no WONDER" continued
the gentleman, ''that Mr.. Sparks feels
convinced that whoever fights corporate
monopoly must sooner or later go to the
WALL When we find rOttenneSS and
corruption almost in the very pens we
use, and the ink itself like contagion, il
is enough to discourage the stoutes
heart" Nothing was said rejecting
upon the integrity of Lamar-nota a wore
rejecting upon his intent to do or moi
do right; but the plain unvarnished
truth is shown, either that he has been
wofully deceived or willfully careless
in the treatment of important cases af
fecting millions of acres of the public
domain and more than S10O,0OO,0OO o1
the peoples money.
GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH.
Senator Cullom Announces Him.
self in Favor of 1t.
o1 fo fba nba